HomeThree more trophies were claimed from the awards table of the APT Philippines 2017 at the Winford Hotel & Casino. All of the wins had their stories to tell starting with Shigeaki Nozaki who became the second player in the series to win a double trophy. For Philip Reyes, he delivered a stunning upset with his rags to riches victory; and Soo Jo Kim denied a champion another title to earn his first of the festival. Read up on all their achievements and visit both our APT Twitch channel and APT YouTube station to watch all the action.
Shigeaki Nozaki bags second trophy at the Monster Stack event
Monster Stack Champion, Shigeaki Nozaki
The Monster Stack event headed back to the felt after an overnight break with 3 players out of the 21 that entered ready to duke it out for the title. Seated were Australia’s John Lane as the chip leader with over double the stack of second position Malaysia’s Choong Kian Weng, and in third rank was Japan’s Shigeaki Nozaki who trailied Weng by a small amount.
In just under two hours of play, Nozaki eliminated both of his opponents and claimed his second event trophy of the APT Philippines 2017. Here’s a recap on Nozaki’s impressive run to the top:
After losing a couple of small pots at the start of the 3-handed – one of which was a failed bluff against Weng – Nozaki still had enough to eliminate Weng who hands prior took a hit from the leader Lane. Nozaki railed Weng with pocket twos staying ahead of K-9.
The heads up round got underway with Nozaki behind over 2:1 in chips to Lane. As he successfully grinded for chips, the first all in showdown appeared when Lane shoved on a turn board of K♦ 3♣ 9♣ 4♣ and Nozaki called for his tournament life. Lane held 10♣ 9♠ and Nozaki with K♥ J♦. The A♥ fell on the river and Nozaki’s top pair was good for the win.
With a bigger stack than Lane, the final hand soon arrived with Lane holding Q♦ J♥ against Nozaki’s K♦ 4♣. The final board ran K♥ 7♦ 5♠ 8♦ J♦. Nozaki won the PHP 306,500 first prize and joined Singapore’s Andy Li Xueyan in the double trophy category.
Payouts
1st Shigeaki Nozaki – Japan – PHP 306,500
2nd John Michael Lane – Australia – PHP 192,500
3rd Choong Kian Weng – Malaysia – PHP 121,200
4th John Dalessandri – Australia – PHP 92,700
Local player Philip Reyes goes from rags to riches at the MSW event
Filipino player Philip Reyes thrilled his fans at the rail with his exciting win at the MegaSportWorld Deep Stack Turbo event. Reyes went from one big blind at the Final 8 to eventually ship it all in, defeating UK’s Stephen Nathan at the heads up round.
MSW Deep Stack Turbo Champion, Philip Reyes
The tournament kicked off with 53 gunners for a prize pool of PHP 359,900. By the time the Final 8 was reached, it was heavy laden with local players with Reyes as the lowest stack that dwindled further down to just one big blind. On the opposite end of the ladder was Nathan with the largest stack of 16 big blinds. Nathan has been running extremely well at the series with four payouts already earned however, he was still on the hunt for that elusive title. That title would evade him once again with Reyes staging a wild run to the top.
It started off with Reyes forced all in on his big blind with 10♣ 6♠ up against Nathan with A♥ 7♠. The board ran 6♦ 2♥ K♣ 6♣ Q♠. He doubled up to 20k. After that, he picked up two more double ups to move up to third position. But as quick as it came, he dropped back down with fellow countryman Jan Morris Bolotaolo doubling up through him with A-3 staying ahead of J-10.
Back to a very short stack, Reyes risked it on pocket eights and was able to dodge Nathan’s J-10 overcards. From there, he ousted one player to meet Nathan at the heads up round dominated 2:1 in chips.
Reyes’s final duel didn’t start well, losing chips to feed Nathan’s stack further. With just 50K and blinds at 20K-40K, he went all in with A-3 and improved to a roaring quadruple threes to bring him up to 100K. Nathan tried to finish Reyes off with K♦ 8♣ but Reyes had A♥ 10♣ and straight on a board of 7♥ 9♠ Q♥ 6♣ 8♣. With 200K now backing him up, Reyes began to grind down Nathan and the final hand was dealt.
Reyes J♥ J♠
Nathan A♦ K♦
The board bricked and Reyes celebrated his impressive victory as Nathan was stunned in his tracks. Reyes was awarded the PHP 99,700 first prize and the event trophy.
Payouts
1st Philip Laurence Reyes – Philippines – PHP 99,700
2nd Stephen Nathan – UK – PHP 61,500
3rd Jan Morris Bolotaolo – Philippines – PHP 45,000
4th Rainer Angat – Philippines – PHP 34,900
5th Lowell Umusig – Philippines – PHP 30,200
6th Roland Loos – Germany – PHP 26,300
7th Kate May Lane – Australia – PHP 23,000
8th Enrique De Leon – Philippines – PHP 20,500
9th Jang Geun Ji – Korea – PHP 18,800
Korea’s Soo Jo Kim wins the No Limit Hold’em event
No Limit Hold’em Champion, SJ Kim
Today’s No Limit Hold’em event attracted a small, one table group of nine players. With only two places paid, the bubble burst with Sam Ng getting the boot leaving two well-oiled poker engines facing off, Korea’s Soo Jo Kim against the newly crowned APT Main Event champion, Aik Chuan.
The heads up round began with Kim ahead in chips. Several hands in, Kim continued to pour on the heat, winning a majority of the pots to slowly down Chuan. All their chips were finally pushed in the middle on a board of 3♦ 3♣ A♣ 5♣. Chuan with 9♣ 8♣ flush but was still behind Kim’s K♣ 10♣. The 4♥ river was mere formality. Kim earned the PHP 141,800 first prize and his first event trophy of the series. Chuan claimed the runner-up cash of PHP 76,400.